I chose Chaney House, since it is near my hall and I always walk by it. When working on this project, I found that I needed to capture extremely precise images of the house in order to create an accurate model. I took a video of it first and then took around 30 pictures. However, there are many trees around the house and also other objects that will disturb the modeling of the house through MetashapePro: it can only align 2/3 pictures. Hence, I fail to model the house. I can just show one to two sides of this building. It is really challenging to duplicate the whole house with the photos I took.
Change from a passive observer to an active modeler, I start noticing the details of campus buildings. The depression in the middle of the stone steps in front of the door, caused by being stepped on, and the marks of rain erosion on the wall, all show the history of the building. These details can promote my feeling of the campus history instead of just seeing the introduction of the house history on the website. The year of the house is not only a number for me. As a modeler, I need to show the special and preserve sufficient original traces rather than barely building an impeccable model.
When looking at photos of the house, I can just see a static 2-dimensional model. Also, they are usually carefully selected for aesthetic purposes. Modeling, on the other hand, forces you to approach architecture as a physical entity existing in the real space. I can no longer just stand in one place: I have to walk around it dozens of times, capturing it from all possible angles – the back, the sides, the top, and every corner. When modeling, I totally put myself into this building to feel the memory of it and its special history. I will zoom in on the picture I take to pay attention to many details that I have ignored before when seeing the its picture on the website.
2 thoughts on “House 3D Modeling”
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That’s such a thoughtful reflection May! Those trees messing up your alignment in Metashape are the worst! I feel your pain with that 2/3 success rate. But I love what you said about the worn stone steps and rain marks making the building’s history feel real instead of just being a number on a website. And you’re so right about having to walk around it a million times—you end up noticing all these details you’d totally miss otherwise. Way different from just seeing pretty photos online!
I found your insight on the transition from passive observer to active modeler to be very interesting. I also noticed that more details revealed themselves, but you pointed out that these details serve a greater purpose: to tell a story about the history of the campus. The details in the house are a visual representation of its memories. I liked how you included descriptive examples; it made the house feel alive.